The present invention relates to golf bags for holding golf clubs and, more particularly, to a golf club holder insert designed to be inserted within the opening of a standard golf bag for holding golf clubs which includes an adjustable sleeve for protecting the shafts of longer golf clubs from damage caused by the heads of the shorter clubs.
Conventional golf bags include various size and shape top dividers which span the opening of the bag for the purpose of separating and dividing the clubs placed in the bag. A general shortcoming of conventional golf bag structures is that the top divider is normally below or at the top edge of the golf bag opening which permits the iron heads of the shorter clubs to impact the hosel and shaft areas of the longer clubs thereby causing damage. This is particularly critical with th.e advent of more sophisticated graphite and titanium shafts some of which use a shaft coating material which can be easily damaged. Some prior art golf bags show top dividers having sections which extend above the bag opening for protection of the shafts as shown in the patents to Evans (U.S. Pat. No. 1,711,344); Boyce (U.S. Pat. No. 1,849,610); Kish (U.S. Pat. No. 2,568,810) and Breakspear (U.S. Pat. No. 936,698) among others.
The present invention relates to a top divider golf club holder insert for golf bags designed to be secured in the opening of a golf bag as original equipment or as a replacement for a standard divider. The insert of the present invention uses a primary compartment which is adjustably moveable relative to the other compartments for separating and protecting the heads and shafts of the golf clubs stored in the primary compartment to prevent damage from the other clubs stored in the bag. The adjustability of the primary compartment permits it to be raised and/or lowered in accordance with the size of the golf clubs carried within the bag. Various embodiments are contemplated wherein the primary compartment may be moved vertically with respect to the other club holding compartments above the bag opening to accommodate the various sized clubs. Among the embodiments are a primary compartment having telescoping members moveable relative to each other using a bayonet type adjustment latch, a spring loaded latch and/or magnetic tape to adjust the height of the telescoping members.
Among the objects of the present invention is the provision of a top divider for separating golf clubs held within the opening of a golf bag including an adjustable primary compartment structured to receive the longer golf clubs and protect them from damage from shorter clubs. Another object of the present invention is to provide a primary golf club holder compartment in the opening of a golf bag which is telescopically adjustable to accommodate a variety of sizes of golf clubs.
These and othe objects will become apparent with reference to the following specification and accompanying drawings.